Gao banned from roads for 5 years, faces prison sentence

Gao Xiaosong, the musician and movie director who was recently caught drunken driving, was on Monday fined 1,000 yuan for having an expired driving license.

The 42-year-old, who was also banned from the roads for five years at Dongcheng district court, will face a criminal trial on Tuesday for causing injuries to three people in a four-car pileup in downtown Dongzhimen on May 9.

Tests showed he had 243 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood in his system at the time of the crash, three times the legal limit. According to China's tougher road safety laws, he faces up to six months in detention, as well as another 2,000-yuan fine.

Dressed in a regulation orange detention house smock and handcuffs, Gao listened in silence on Monday as a senior traffic police officer read out his punishment, a court source told METRO. He can appeal within three months.

Lin Qiang, deputy division leader of Dongcheng's traffic bureau, said in an earlier interview that the singer confessed his crime the morning after the crash, telling police: "I'm willing to shoulder all the responsibility."

China Daily

(China Daily 05/17/2011)